Tag Archives: 1957

KFWB–980

Posted on July 24, 2007 by lmharnisch

July 24, 1957 Los Angeles You mean there was a time when KFWB didn’t have an all-news format? Yes, indeed. Read about Larry Finley here. More (much, much more) about Boss radio here.  Vintage air checks from KFWB (and many, … Continue reading →

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Matt Weinstock

Posted on July 24, 2007 by lmharnisch

July 22, 1957 This is to report that a distressing situation has arisen in MacWestlake Park. Certain pigeons–just a few of the hundreds in the park, mind you–have adopted a decidedly unmilitary attitude toward the recently dedicated statue of the … Continue reading →

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Pepe Arciga

Posted on July 23, 2007 by lmharnisch

July 22, 1957 Usually, advance press releases dealing with anyone’s mammoth or secretly puny celluloid projects begin this way: So-and-so Productions take pleasure in announcing the filming of another 12-reeler to star so-and-so…. It might be pointed out that our … Continue reading →

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El Segundo revisited

Posted on July 22, 2007 by lmharnisch

Over lunch today, King C. Brown and I discussed the El Segundo case and I worked out this scenario for what might have happened that night. I apologize for the extremely low-tech simulation but this is all I could find … Continue reading →

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Death in El Segundo

Posted on July 22, 2007 by lmharnisch

July 22, 1957Los Angeles We’re heading west on Rosecrans Avenue. It’s early Monday morning, a few moments after 1:30 a.m., and the streets are dark. There’s nobody out but a few drunks and some people heading home from the swing … Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, 1957, @news, Cemeteries, Crime and Courts, Homicide, Science | Tagged , , , , , , | 11 Comments

A question of leadership

Posted on July 21, 2007 by lmharnisch

July 18-Aug. 1, 1957Los Angeles In the summer of 1957, eight years before the Watts riots, the Los Angeles Sentinel, a weekly newspaper serving the black community, published a three-part series by Stanley Robertson titled: “Does Los Angeles Have a … Continue reading →

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Victor Mature TV

Posted on July 20, 2007 by lmharnisch

Question: Didn’t Victor Mature own an appliance store? Answer: Yes, Victor Mature TV: 10739 W. Pico Blvd. The store later moved to 10916 W. Pico.  

Posted in Film, Homicide, Television | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

What happened on Dunsmuir

Posted on July 20, 2007 by lmharnisch

These appear to be four rather ordinary West Adams district homes from the late 1920s and early ’30s and in many ways they are. Photographs by Larry Harnisch Los Angeles Times This is 2435 S. Dunsmuir Ave. This is 2308 … Continue reading →

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Insane

Posted on July 20, 2007 by lmharnisch

July 20, 1957Riverside A maid at a Riverside hotel found the battered, nude body of 5-year-old Hiedrun “Heidi” Nicholson bent over double and stuffed into a closet. It looked “as if someone had been pounding her with a hammer,” The … Continue reading →

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He’s here!

Posted on July 19, 2007 by lmharnisch

July 19, 1957Los Angeles Minda Lee Birnbaum, 15, and her mother, Blanche Lewie, 46, had spent most of the day with the divorce lawyer, Murray Chotiner. In the late afternoon, as Blanche made some phone calls from the law offices’ … Continue reading →

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Liberace’s mother beaten

Posted on July 19, 2007 by lmharnisch

July 19, 1957Los Angeles Hours after Liberace gave a deposition in his $25-million libel suit against Confidential magazine, two masked intruders attacked his mother in the garage of Liberace’s home, 15405 Valley Vista Blvd., Sherman Oaks. Frances Liberace Casadonte, (68, … Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, LAPD, San Fernando Valley | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

You, the jury, Part II

Posted on July 19, 2007 by lmharnisch

July 19, 1957 Los Angeles The jury convicted Wallace LeRoy Schiers of second-degree murder on July 18, 1957. But Schiers continued to insist that he did not kill his wife. He said: “I have nothing on my conscience. Somewhere along … Continue reading →

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Random shot

Posted on July 19, 2007 by lmharnisch

Native Angelenos will, of course, recognize that this photo was taken at the end of Reseda Boulevard about 1947. The man with the model airplane is W. Gilbert Clark, now UCLA professor emeritus of physics. Thanks for sharing!

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Edith Piaf at the Mocambo

Posted on July 18, 2007 by lmharnisch

Edith Piaf opens at the Mocambo. Chet Baker… Art Blakey… Buddy Collette…. Slim Gaillard….And look at all the Dixieland groups. Who knew?

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Matt Weinstock

Posted on July 18, 2007 by lmharnisch

July 18, 1957 Don Bailey Jr. has no red tab on his rear license plate. He applied for it like other motorists during the renewal period but never received it. Apparently it was lost in the processing at Sacramento or … Continue reading →

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Missing woman found

Posted on July 18, 2007 by lmharnisch

  Mildred Hall, 44, who vanished Nov. 15, 1956, and was the subject of a Paul Coates column, resurfaced in April 1959, posing as many baffling questions as she did when she disappeared after leaving a note for her husband, … Continue reading →

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Dodgers are coming to L.A.?

Posted on July 18, 2007 by lmharnisch
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Meltdown II

Posted on July 17, 2007 by lmharnisch

July 17, 1957 Our friend, Mr. Atom, at the Santa Susana Field Lab.

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Countdown to Watts

Posted on July 17, 2007 by lmharnisch

  July 17, 1957 Los Angeles The painful comparison: "800 Negroes Lose Jobs"  and "Deep South Editors Here, See Race Tension Ending." And to make things even worse, the Southern editors were entirely well-meaning and sincere. The Mirror interviewed editors … Continue reading →

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Aerospace crashes

Posted on July 17, 2007 by lmharnisch

  July 17, 1957 Los Angeles With the cancellation of the Navaho cruise missile program, North American Aviation made plans to lay off 15,600 employees, nearly a third of the workforce at its plant in Downey. Efforts were made to … Continue reading →

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